The framing of prints, watercolors, photographs and other surface displays is frequently effected utilizing a frame with or without a glass pane behind which the artistic work is mounted, and a mat which is formed with a rectangular window through which the display is viewed and which contriubutes to the appearance of the framed work.
The mat is generally formed of a relatively thin cardboard or paperboard and itself forms a mask for the perimeter of the work or the background material upon which the work is mounted.
The exposed surface of the mat can have a color selected to complement the work of the frame or can be colorless or white, can have a grainy appearance or texture or a smooth and uniform appearance, can be covered or composed of fabric or can have a fabric texture or can be devoid of any type of significant surface formation. The mat is provided with a rectangular window, i.e. a window which can be square or elongated in a selected direction and the width of the margin around this window will define a margin around the exposed portion of the work to be displayed in a decorative or complimentary manner.
In the past, such mats have been produced by cutting out the window with various mat cutting tools and instruments.
A blade is generally slid along a guide to cut one side of the window to be formed and either the blade assembly or the mat can then be reoriented so that the same blade assembly cuts the sides at right angles to the first mentioned side. Means can be provided for limiting the stroke of the blade and thus defining the width of the margins or borders of the mat which remain.
It will be apparent that such mat-cutting devices are not fully suitable for the production of a series of mats of the same dimensions with similar cut-outs because, generally speaking, the longitudinal cuts must alternate with transverse cuts and the succession of cuts involves several movements of the mat relative to the cutting table or the cutting means.
Since the complete cutting of a window in a mat requires at least two distinct cutting phases in which the mat must be positioned, a number of manipulations of the mat are generally required for the production of each window and, of course, the various manipulations and the time-consuming repositioning of the mat at least once during each window-cutting operation, present drawbacks to use of the system for the mass production or serial productions of mats even if the windows are intended to be identical.
If one does not wish to alter the set-up, it is possible to make corresponding cuts in a number of mat blanks before making the cuts transversely thereto, in which case it is necessary to restack the blanks after the cuts of one type are made and run the blanks through the apparatus again when the second type of cut is to be made.